Leading Through Challenging Times: Lessons from the Frontlines

This time, we con­tin­ue the con­ver­sa­tion from my last blog, when we talked about hav­ing a fortress bal­ance sheet, to ask the next crit­i­cal ques­tions once finan­cial sta­bil­i­ty is secured:

• How do you actu­al­ly lead through tough times?
• How do you ensure your team and your busi­ness not only sur­vive but thrive amidst uncertainty?

Embrace the Challenge

Over 30 years of work­ing with com­pa­nies world­wide, I’ve wit­nessed numer­ous eco­nom­ic and indus­try chal­lenges. While I wouldn’t say I enjoy the tur­moil, I do appre­ci­ate the oppor­tu­ni­ties that come from adver­si­ty. Tough times pres­sure-test busi­ness­es, sys­tems, and peo­ple — and that’s where real growth happens.

Right now, things are tough across the board but there are con­sis­tent pat­terns in how great lead­ers nav­i­gate challenges.

Here are some key lessons from the best CEOs with whom we’ve worked:

1.Acknowledge the Hard Truths

The best lead­ers I know don’t sug­ar­coat dif­fi­cul­ties. They open­ly acknowl­edge that the road ahead is tough, while they instill con­fi­dence in their teams and rein­force that they can over­come any challenge.

A great book that speaks to this con­cept is The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz, which empha­sizes that suc­cess isn’t about avoid­ing dif­fi­cul­ty but work­ing through it with resolve.

2. Work Shoul­der-to-Shoul­der with Your Team

In chal­leng­ing times, lead­er­ship isn’t about del­e­gat­ing from a dis­tance. It’s about rolling up your sleeves and work­ing along­side your team. The most respect­ed lead­ers don’t just issue direc­tives. They join in prob­lem-solv­ing ses­sions, stay late with their teams, and set an exam­ple through action. This not only strength­ens exe­cu­tion but also rein­forces the right cul­tur­al tone.

3. Recon­nect with Pur­pose & BHAG

When the world feels chaot­ic, your Big Hairy Auda­cious Goal (BHAG from the work of Jim Collins) and pur­pose act as a North Star (or South­ern Cross). Just like a ship nav­i­gat­ing a storm, refo­cus­ing on your long-term vision pro­vides a focus point and sta­bil­i­ty. If you have a sol­id three-to-five-year plan, stick to it, after ensur­ing it still holds up under cur­rent con­di­tions. If nec­es­sary, make adjust­ments but stay com­mit­ted to your guid­ing principles.

4. Fil­ter Sig­nal from Noise

In times of uncer­tain­ty, there’s an over­whelm­ing amount of infor­ma­tion — some rel­e­vant, some just noise. Effec­tive lead­ers help their teams to focus on the crit­i­cal sig­nals that guide deci­sion mak­ing. Right now, for exam­ple, there’s a lot of eco­nom­ic and polit­i­cal spec­u­la­tion, so lead­ers need to help their teams to focus on what tru­ly impacts their busi­ness and how to adapt accordingly.

5. Over Communicate

Clear, con­sis­tent com­mu­ni­ca­tion is more impor­tant than ever in tur­bu­lent times. Scal­ing Up method­ol­o­gy pro­motes dai­ly hud­dles to keep every­one aligned.

As a rule, the best lead­ers increase the fre­quen­cy of their com­mu­ni­ca­tion — some­times dou­bling or even quin­tu­pling it. Peo­ple cre­ate their own nar­ra­tives when left in the dark, which may not be pro­duc­tive. Your job, as a leader, is to shape the nar­ra­tive in a way that empow­ers and moti­vates your team.

6. Take Care of Your­self First

This is where my book, Your Oxy­gen Mask First, comes in. Lead­er­ship resilience is non-nego­tiable. If you’re stressed, exhaust­ed or over­whelmed, it radi­ates through your orga­ni­za­tion. Con­verse­ly, if you remain steady, opti­mistic, and focused, that ener­gy spreads too.

I recent­ly spoke with a CEO who has dou­bled down on their per­son­al fit­ness rou­tine to main­tain clar­i­ty and sta­mi­na. Anoth­er leader has increased their dai­ly walks from two miles to three, to cre­ate more space for decom­pres­sion and strate­gic thinking.

What­ev­er it takes, pri­or­i­tize your own well­be­ing so you can show up, at your best, for your team.

Final Thoughts

Every era presents its chal­lenges, but we always find a way through. The key is to main­tain focus, com­mu­ni­cate effec­tive­ly, and lead with resilience. We may not know when things will set­tle, but we can con­trol our response. By guid­ing our teams with con­fi­dence, clar­i­ty, and com­mit­ment, we can nav­i­gate adver­si­ty and emerge stronger than before.

The Chal­lenge

• How can you and your team make the most of the cur­rent mar­ket you are in?
  • Start or do more?
  • Stop or do less?
  • Do dif­fer­ent­ly?

Oth­er Blogs

• You Can’t Win if You’re Not on the Same Page
• The Week­ly Team Lead­er­ship Meeting
• Are You Try­ing to Moti­vate Your Team?

Old­er Podcasts

• Jim Collins’ Three Rules of Engage­ment for Healthy Teams